James Franklin will open his fifth summer camp at Penn State on Friday, but for the first time, he will not do so by welcoming recruits.

The NCAA changed some of its recruiting rules in 2017, which led to, most notably, an early signing period last December and spring and summer official visits for Class of 2019 recruits for the first time.

Another calendar change flew mostly under the radar, though, but it went into effect nonetheless.

A recruiting dead period is defined by the NCAA as a time when "a college coach may not have face-to-face contact with college-bound student-athletes or their parents, and may not watch student-athletes compete or visit their high schools. Coaches may write and telephone student-athletes or their parents during a dead period."

More or less, it means prospects can't come see practice and coaches can't go watch high school practices. It's of note because a new dead period was passed along with the aforementioned NCAA recruiting legislation a year ago that installed a dead period from Aug. 1 through Aug. 31, which means, unlike Franklin's first three camps in State College, he and his staff can no longer have recruits on campus to see drills ahead of the season.

High school coaches are still allowed to visit, however, but they cannot bring players and also cannot discuss recruiting with Franklin and/or his staff. There is one exception, though: If a recruit wanted to visit officially for the opener on Sept. 1 against Appalachian State, he could start his 48-hour visit clock on Aug. 30 or Aug. 31, if he and the program agreed to do so. It shouldn't impact the Lions, however, as they typical do not host official visitors in Week 1.

As for whether or not it hurts or helps Penn State's recruiting efforts, it's more or less a wash, as the program and colleges around the country have expanded spring and summer opportunities to see recruits now, and it will allow the staff to focus all of August on the current team as it prepares to try and win 11 or more games for the fourth year in a row.

"I'm really proud of how the staff has recruited this year, because it's been a really challenging year," Franklin said last week in Chicago.

To date, Penn State has the nation's No. 13 class, according to average recruiting rankings, with 15 verbal commitments after three-star Maryland tackle Zachary Franks pledged on Thursday afternoon.